What Is Meditation.....??????

Meditation is universal. It transcends all divides like religion, country and culture. It is a gift given to mankind to access the infinite sprit not limited by any identity. It is the only tool that can aid a person to return to innocence.

Modern life style has high exposure to anger, hate, fear and other negative emotions. These human emotions have a high tendency to duplicate and spread. For example, when a person gets cheated, he starts to suspect everything around him. This also has an impact on people around him. These emotions form strong impressions and opinions on an individual and social level. The result of which is an insecure individual and an unstable society.

Meditation helps an individual overcome these emotions to facilitate a calm peaceful mind and a healthy and stress free body.Upon daily practice an individual will blossom into an unshakable personality. With increase in the number of people who are calm, peaceful and healthy will facilitate a social transformation, enabling a society that is trusting, happy and content.

Some Tips for Powerful Meditation

Posture

Eyes

Focus

The Breath

Continue Your Breath

Emotions

Length

Place

Enjoyment

More Meditation Photos of Art of Living

Learn Meditation

First, Sit Upright

Sit upright with a straight spine, away from the back of the chair. Place your feet flat on the floor, and your arms, palms turned upward, at the joint between your thighs and torso.

Relax the Body

Do this Tense and Relax exercise to help you relax the body:

Inhale sharply through the nose, with 1 short and 1 long inhalation (double breath)

Tense the whole body until it vibrates with energy

Hold your breath and the tension for five seconds

Exhale forcibly through the mouth, with one short and one long exhalation (double breath)

As you do, throw the tension out

Repeat several times

Breathe Evenly

Inhale slowly, counting to eight. Hold the breath for eight more counts, then exhale slowly to the same count. Without pausing, inhale again — hold — exhale, each to the count of eight.

This is called the Measured Breathing Exercise. Repeat it three to six times.

You can vary the count according to your lung capacity, but always keep it equal during inhalation, holding, and exhalation. Finish your practice by inhaling deeply, then exhaling completely.

Hong-Sau Technique of Concentration

Now wait for the next breath to come in of its own accord. When it does, mentally say Hong (rhymes with song). This time, don’t hold the breath, but exhale naturally. As you do, mentally say Sau (rhymes with saw).

Hong-Sau is an ancient Sanskrit mantra (a mantra is a word, syllable, or group of syllables, which can convey spiritual power when pronounced correctly, often with repetition). It means “I am He” or “I am Spirit.” Try to feel that your breath itself is silently making the sounds of Hong and Sau.

Make no attempt to control your breath. Simply observe it as it flows in and out naturally.

In the beginning you may be mostly aware of the physical manifestation of the breathing process as your diaphragm and chest expand and contract.

As your breath grows calmer, however, try to become aware of its flow in the nostrils, then gradually transfer your awareness higher and higher in the nasal passages.

With the eyes closed, turn your gaze upward to the point midway between the eyebrows within your forehead. Concentrate there. This is the seat of spiritual consciousness in the body, also called the spiritual eye, or Christ Center. In time, try to feel the flow of the breath near the spiritual eye within your forehead.

Keep your gaze steady at the point between the eyebrows throughout your practice. Don’t allow your eyes to follow the movement of the breath. If you find that your mind has wandered, gently bring it back to an awareness of the breath and the mantra. 

Finish your practice of Hong-Sau by inhaling once through the nose, then exhaling three times through the mouth.

 

More Meditation : Art of Living

Power of Meditation

“In meditation, healing can happen. When the mind is calm, alert and totally contented, then it is like a laser beam – it is very powerful and healing can happen.” - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Only a healthy bud can blossom. In the same way, only a healthy being can succeed.

So,what is it to be healthy?

To attain a perfect state of health, one has to remain mentally calm, steady and emotionally stable. ‘Swasthya’ means health. It also means being in one's self. Swasthya or health is not just confined to the body and the mind but it is also connected with the consciousness. The clearer the consciousness is, the more well-being is gained.

Meditation increases prana (life energy)
Prana (the vital life energy) is the very basis of health and well being, for both body and mind. You can gain prana through meditation. When your body is alive with more prana, you feel alert, energetic, and full of good humor. A lack of prana results in lethargy, dullness and poor enthusiasm.

Dealing with illness - through meditation
It is said that the root of an illness is in the mind/consciousness. So, by attending to the mind, clearing it of any disturbances, the recovery speeds up. Illnesses can develop from:

Violation of natural law: such as over-eating
Imposed by nature: such as common cold, an epidemic
Release of past impressions or Karma
Nature itself provides a cure for these illnesses. Health and illness are a part of physical nature. By practicing meditation, the stresses, worries, anxieties drop off and gives rise to a positive state of mind, which has a positive impact on the physical body, brain and nervous system, then illnesses change.

Health and illness are a part of physical nature. You should not worry too much about it. When you worry about illness, you are giving more power to the illness. You are a combination of health and illness. When you keep that in mind and have a positive state of mind, then illnesses change.

Heal the mind – through meditation
Meditation prevents stresses from entering the body system and also releases accumulated stress.Health,happiness and a positive state of Being wells up
The practice of meditation brings a coolness to the brain, it’s like servicing the whole body-mind complex
Clear emotional pollution - with meditation
A time may come in the future, when people will be fined for being depressed, because they are creating emotional pollution! The words that you hear from people around you, affect your state of mind. They either give you peace and joy, or create disturbance (such as jealously, anger, frustration or sadness). You’re affected because the mind is not in its Self; it is not centered. Meditation is the key to control 'emotional pollution'.

Blossom with meditation
Meditation can bring about a spiritual transformation. As you learn more about life, the mystery of the whole Creation unfolds. Then the questions that arise in the mind are - What is the meaning of Life? What is its purpose? What is this world, what is love, what is knowledge...?

Once these questions arise in you, know that you are very fortunate. These questions need to be understood; you cannot find the answers in books. You have to live through them and witness the transformation. That is perfect health; you are transformed from within. And the bud becomes a totally blossomed flower.

Heal the world through meditation
Meditation purifies the environment. Meditation and Sudarshan Kriya have transformed aggression and violence in people - to compassion, love and care. For example, notice how you feel when you enter a room where someone is really angry ? It leaves you feeling the same!

Similarly, when there is a harmonious or a happy activity, you feel good. You may wonder why. Feelings are not isolated in one's body - they are all around. It is in the whole environment, because the mind is subtler than the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether). If there is a fire somewhere, the heat is not just in the fire, it is also radiating throughout the place.

Note: If you are unhappy or depressed, you are not the only one who is feeling it; you are spreading it to the whole environment.

In the current global situation of conflicts and disease, it's important to meditates a little every day. Through meditation, you can nullify the negative vibrations in the environment, thereby creating a more harmonious environment.

The Healing Breath and Meditation
A jewel in The Art of Living is the healing breath, known as the Sudarshan Kriya.

This unique breathing practice is a potent energizer:

Every cell becomes fully oxygenated and flooded with new life
It flushes out negative emotions from the body
It releases tensions, frustrations and anger
It clears anxiety, depression and lethargy
It gives relief to both the mind and body